AI Could Help With Early Diagnosis of Those With Elevated Heart Failure Risk, Study Reveals

New research shows that artificial intelligence could significantly improve the early diagnosis of individuals at risk of heart failure.

The study shows that AI can pick up usually difficult-to-detect anomalies.

human heart — (Photo: Pixabay / The Digital Artist )

AI Could Help Determine Heart Failure Risk

Scientists from the School of Medicine at the University of Dundee examined a final cohort comprising 578 people to see how AI could play a role. This was made possible by patients who volunteered to share their data with the SHARE (Scottish Health Research Register and Biobank).

The researchers used the AI model to interrogate echocardiography heart scans and population-based electronic health records to distinguish patients with heart failure.

They then used AI deep learning to examine the images and identify certain anomalies that could heighten one's risk of heart failure.

According to Professor Chim Lang, the study advances using deep learning for the automatic interpretation of echocardiographic images. This may enable the streamlining of identifying patients with heart failure within a scale of datasets of electronic health records.

The echocardiography heart scans that the AI software enhanced helped offer further measurements and parameters of heart function and structure. This could be used in the diagnosis of heart failure.

Such measurements did not undergo routine reports by the typical heart scans of electronic health data records.

When these were compared to the reports generated by routine heart scans, AI-enhanced ones had greater detail. They could also have a larger processing scale compared to conventional images.

This yields possible research and clinical implications, as it may boost speed and efficiency for patient selection for clinical trials. Moreover, it could help improve the surveillance and early diagnosis of heart failure in hospital setups.

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Heart Failure

Around one in three ends up dying due to heart and circulatory diseases each year, making them the biggest killer in the world.

According to experts, heart failure is extremely prevalent yet under-diagnosed. Though it is possible to control symptoms to a certain extent through medication, lifestyle changes, and surgery, it is usually a long-term and serious condition that ends up getting progressively worse as time passes.

Heart failure typically happens when the heart muscle doesn't pump blood as well as it should. As this happens, blood typically backs up. Fluid could also accumulate in the lungs, leading to shortness of breath.

Some heart conditions leave the heart too stiff or weak to pump and fill blood properly. Such conditions may include high blood pressure or narrowed heart arteries.

Heart failure could end up being life-threatening. Individuals who face it could end up having severe symptoms. Others may require a heart transplant or heart pump.